Stretch of hilly road at Minintod collapse

A portion of the Kolam-Minintod Road, near Bukit Padang here, caved in after the hill on which the stretch stood collapsed, Thursday.

Cracks were seen at the stretch as early as 7am by a maintenance team from Globinaco Sdn Bhd and the road caved in eight hours later at about 3pm, causing a ridge stretching about 150ft long.

A Public Works Department (PWD) team had gone to the site after being alerted by Globinaco contractors and sealed the cracks with canvas, allowing only one side of the road to be used.

However, the PWD team later decided it was too risky to allow traffic to go through, as the cracks widened, and closed the road completely at about 1pm.

Motorists who normally used the stretch to reach Inanam or Penampang have been advised to use alternative routes, preferrably from Jalan Datuk Panglima Banting or Jalan Kiansom Minintod.

Those who frequent the road generally are either headed to Kg Kibabaig, Kg Kasigui and Jalan Datuk Panglima Banting in Penampang, or KK Tzer Ying Buddhist Temple, Kg Bambangan, Kg Bantayan, Kg Minotun and Country Heights Apartments in Inanam.

A PWD senior officer said they were thinking of building an access not far from the collapsed road but must consider several details first before proceeding, adding such works would take at least one or two weeks to complete.

Meanwhile, MP Dr Hiew King Cheu believes the incident could have been avoided as it could not have happened overnight.

Looking at the underground water outlet beneath the stretch, he suspected the pipe could have been damaged, causing it being unable to channel water away from the hill.

"The PWD should always check this carefully. Now, millions of Ringgit would have to be spent to fix the road, which in fact is the people's money," he said.

He also failed to understand how the mishap could not be averted, pointing out there were enough funds sourced for road maintenance in Sabah.